Project Summary/Abstract - Administrative Core The Deep South Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) is designed to enhance the size and diversity of the scientific workforce advancing the fields of minority aging and health disparities. We are a research-based, mentoring partnership of four academic institutions, The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB); Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), Tuskegee University (TU), and The University of Alabama (UA), working together to recruit investigators from under-represented backgrounds, provide education in aging and health disparities research, guide career development through collaborative mentoring, and sustain progress to successful, independent research careers. The Administrative Core (AC) will provide intellectual leadership and administrative oversight for the Deep South RCMAR. The specific aims of the AC are to: (1) ensure the integration and coordination of all Deep South RCMAR activities, (2) provide oversight and support for the recruitment and selection of RCMAR Scientists, (3) facilitate collaborative mentoring and research activities with complementary programs, and (4) provide administrative oversight for all programs. Integration and coordination of activities will be accomplished through effective interactions, communication, and information flow externally and among investigators and Scientists across the Research Education Component (REC), the Community Liaison and Recruitment Core (CLRC), and the Analysis Core (AnC), as well as among the four partnering academic institutions, and with other RCMARs, the Coordinating Center, related research centers, and the National Institute on Aging. The AC will work closely with the other cores and leadership of the partnering institutions to identify and recruit promising researchers from under-represented backgrounds, establish mentorship teams tailored to each Scientist?s needs, and promote collaborations with complementary programs to support REC activities and leverage resources in support of RCMAR Scientists. The AC will maintain an External Advisory Committee composed of a Community Advisory Group, a Professional Advisory Group, and a RCMAR Scientist Alumni Group, to provide feedback ensuring that the activities of the cores are relevant both to the development of RCMAR Scientists and the research focus of reducing health disparities among older AAs and Whites in the Deep South. With this renewal application, we propose to continue and enhance the activities of the AC in serving the goals of our RCMAR and its enduring commitment to mentoring investigators from under-represented backgrounds and to reducing health care disparities between older AAs and Whites in the Deep South during the next funding cycle.